"How can you solve problems when you won't even admit they're there?" asks the ad, which will start running Friday in battleground states and on national cable networks.

...Showing Bush in a flight suit hugging Navy pilots, the ad then says that since the president made that declaration, "867 more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq" and the war has cost "$100 billion."

Switching to the other top issue in the presidential campaign, the ad then shows Bush saying "the economy is strong. The economy is getting better." Newspaper headlines tell a different story: "Sharp rise in poverty reported," "Record 45 million people lack coverage," "The Gap in Wages is Growing Again for U.S. Workers."

Of course, when it comes to facing a real town meeting where he might -- the horror! -- have to face questions holding him accountable for his dismal performance over the past four years, Bush doesn't seem to have the guts.

johnny ramone r.i.p.

More sad news today. Guitarist Johnny Ramone of the legendary punk band The Ramones died in his sleep last night after a long battle with cancer. He was 55.

Ramone, 55, who was born John Cummings, died in his sleep at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday afternoon, said Arturo Vega, the Ramones' creative director.

The Ramones, famed for playing their high-energy, unpolished songs at breakneck speed, rose to fame in New York City in the 1970s, paving the way for such British punk rock icons as the Sex Pistols and the Clash.

But unlike most punks, Ramone was an outspoken Republican who once declared Ronald Reagan the best U.S. president of his lifetime.

Ramone becomes the third member of the band to die in recent years. Singer Joey Ramone, born Jeffrey Hyman, died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin, died from a drug overdose the following year.

At Johnny Ramone's bedside were his wife, Linda, as well as rock stars such as Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante and hard-rocker Rob Zombie, Vega said.

Update 2: As it happened, the hurricane watchers for New Orleans' TV weather crews (who are seasoned pros at this sort of thing) declared that the brunt of Ivan would miss N'Awlins, and so my family did not evacuate. I'm told that places inland got a worse lashing than the Big Easy did. Needless to say, we're releived, while extending our sympathies to those areas harder hit.

more missile defense mendacity

The Pentagon's last hope of flight-testing critical new elements of an antimissile system, before activating the system this autumn, appeared to vanish yesterday with the disclosure that the next flight test has been postponed until late this year, well past the November election.

Gee, imagine that. Bush is willing to stake American lives on whether the system works, but not his own candidacy.

The Air Force general in charge of the program said the setback will not affect plans to begin operating the system in the next month or two. But the delay leaves the Pentagon pressing ahead with a system that will not have been flight-tested in nearly two years -- and never with the actual interceptor that will be deployed.

The postponement also comes against the backdrop of a wide disparity in estimates about the system's likely effectiveness that has emerged among key Pentagon officials.

The Pentagon's chief weapons evaluator has calculated that the system may be capable of hitting its targets only about 20 percent of the time. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), which is responsible for developing the system, offers estimates of greater than 80 percent, according to several officials familiar with the classified figures.

It boggles the mind that Bush continues to run up the national credit card on this boondoggle. If the Administration were truly confident in the system, they'd stand for even thr routine testing regime. It's clear that Bush simply wants the project far enough along that it'll be difficult to kill -- whether the blamed thing works is, quite simply, not a factor.

another night

Well, drat. I woke up way early to go give platelys, but I found out when I got there that I am ineligible. (I can't give more than 24 times in a 365-day period, and so I can't donate again until the 30th.)

Unfortunatley, I was still up way early and I'm tired. I als have started working out again -- I'm taking a Tae Kwon Do class at the local Y. I studied for 11 years, but I haven't worked out regularly since Cecilia was born...that's more than five years. She's in the youth class now, and it's really good to be back into it. I'm pleased that my muscle memory seems to be relatively intact, even though the finesse and speed is missing. (My wind is also lousy.)

The upshot is, I was planning to post, but I'm going to bail until later. Sorry! In the meantime, please visit the fine blogs listed on the left.

please stand by

It's a busy week so far, and right now sleep is more important than blogging. One thing that's different -- but delightful -- is helping Cecilia (who's in kindergarten now) with her homework. I also went to the grocery store for provisions, and that's always a draining ordeal. And I'm giving platelets tomorrow morning, and must be upearly, so i'm going to turn in.

I hope to have more time for posting tomorrow. I have a massive collection of links, and I owe Destroy All Monsters a whole slate of reviews.